I just discovered the amazing math / alt / post blog Fecking Bahamas via an interview they did with the amazing Town Portal and it turns out they regularly do amazing reviews of amazing bands. I will use the ‘Hot Band’ tag to chart the expansion of my iPod; already there have been a couple of great discoveries from this one source.

The first entry in this series is the greatly named and greatly music’d Captain Kickarse and the Awesomes, and their brand new album Grim Repercussions. They are from Australia, just like Pivixki and AC/DC.

A lot of bands use gratuitous echo as a crutch to draw some contrast with and bind together hyperactive rhythms into something resembling a song, but Captain Kickarse are refreshingly restrained with the former, and skilled enough to mix a ‘The Ocean’-style groove with the latter. A fine way to spend $12 AUD.

Pivixki is an Australian experimental music duo, equal parts electronics, drum kit, piano, and ferocity. Although they sound nothing alike, they hold similar appeal to Cheval de Frise – another boundless two piece who truly achieve the oft-mooted, seldom achieved status of operating outside the realm of classification, possessing as they do their own entirely unique style. Where the heritage of Cheval de Frise is not immediately apparent, Pivixki drop a few hints here and there – Schoenberg, Nancarrow, minimalism, and Zappa definitely pop up their heads on occasion. These compositional and stylistic allusions are accompanied throughout by some thoroughly modern, thoroughly brutal drumming, and form one of the most original styles I’ve heard in ages.

[Also in the keys / drums duo category is the late-90s/early-2000s Binary System. They’re not nearly as aggressive, and didn’t grab me as being nearly as good either – too cinematic. I will listen further and see if they grow, but they definitely didn’t have the immediate appeal of Pivixki.]